Today, we’re talking about his most recent book, a business novel called Andy & Me and the Hospital: Further Adventures on the Lean Journey. I don’t normally read much fiction, and I generally don’t read business novels, but I really enjoyed this book and tore through it in a few days. It was really compelling and many of the scenarios felt quite familiar. I think this is a helpful book for painting a picture of what it could feel like to start a Lean journey in healthcare.

Topics & links for this episode:

Given Tom and Andy’s background in manufacturing, how can they function in a major hospital? What have you found to be some of the biggest differences when working in healthcare?

One of the characters from the fictional Taylor Motors says something provocative: “The worst Taylor factory is better managed than the best hospital in America” (and maybe that extends to Canada and other countries)… what would be behind a statement like that?

Please talk about the concept of True North… how is that different than the “mission, vision, and values” that most organizations have? Why is it important to have a qualitative statement and not just metrics?

What’s the difference between “empowerment” and “abandonment?”

How can we convince healthcare leaders that:

1) Lean is not a layoffs or “cost cutting” strategy

2) That they need to learn and practice Lean themselves, not just delegate it or train front line managers and staff?

How do you see staff-driven QnEK fitting in with the alignment that we’re trying to get through Strategy Deployment? I heard one hospital say that staff “ONLY” work on things that fit into the SD framework and my fear is that they’ll stifle participation that way… thoughts?